Shedding mechanism for looms



Dec. 3, 1963 o. FIRING SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Original F lled July 13,1959

INVENTOR Dec; 3, 1963 o. FIRING 3,112,173

SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Original Filed July 15, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR ATI'ORN United States Patent 3,112,773 7 SHELDENG MEQHANEMFOR LOOMS Osborne Firing, Sherman Hill, Woodhury, Conn. Originaiapplication July 13, 1959, Ser. No. 326,667, new Patent No. 3,366,703,dated Dec. 4, 1962. Divided and this application Aug. 31, 1962, Ser. No.229,815

2 Claims. (Cl. 139-58) This invention is an improved shedding mechanismfor looms and is a division of my co-pending application Serial Number826,667, filed luly 13, 1959, now U.S. Patent No. 3,066,703.

The aforesaid application deals with an improved loom of the shuttlelessor needle type, and the improved shedding arrangement of thisapplication is particularly adapted to such loom. It especiallycontributes to the compactness and high speed capacity of such a loom.

The invention provides improved shed-forming mechanism with harnessesfirmly supported independently of one another in cantilever fashion,closely adjacent each other and also very close to the needle path andwhich are operated from the main shaft by simple gear and camarrangement which may be enclosed in an oil bath.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter morefully appear. In the accompanying drawings, I have shown for purpose ofillustration, one embodiment which the invention may assume in practice.In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view showing the general arrangement of a loomincorporating the shedding mechanism of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section on the line of the main drive shaft;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section on line 33 of FIG. 2; and,

FIG. 4 is a vertical central section on line 4-4- of FIG. 3.

Various parts of the loom of the aforesaid application which are not apart of this invention have been omitted from the drawings and will beonly briefly referred to in the description. The reference numeralscorrespond to those used in the parent application.

The working parts of the loom are supported by a boxlike casting orframe which is open at the bottom and which has a flat top wall 1,sidewalls 2 and 3 and front and back walls 4 and 5, respectively.Journalled in suitable bearings in the sidewalls 2 and 3 is the maindrive shaft 6 which is power-driven through the pulley 7.

For operating part of the warp harnesses, there is a shaft r; journalledin bearings attached to the sidewalls 2 and 3 which is driven by thegear 9 on the main shaft 6 meshing with the gear 16 keyed to the shaft8, as best seen in FIG. 2. The ratio of this gearing is 1 to 2 so thatthe shaft 8 turns at half the speed on the main shaft.

On the opposite side, there is a second harness-operating shaft ii, alsosupported in bearings carried by the sidewalls 2 and 3 and driven bygear 12 on the main shaft 6 and gear 13 on the shaft 11. 'The ratio ofthe gearing in this case is 1 to 4 so that the shaft 11 will turn atonly one-quarter of the speed of the main shaft.

The weft laying needle 14 is attached to an arm 15 which curves towardthe center line of the loom where it is connected to a vertical shaft16. As described in the aforesaid prior application, the shaft 16 isoscillated about its own axis, and also back and forth so as to carry adouble pick of the filler thread F through the shed, and between eachchange of the shed. When such double pick is projected through the shed,it is caught by a knitting needle 31 which is moved back and forththrough suitable mechanism including a lever 32, at the proper time topick up the loop of the weft thread and 3,112,773 Patented Dec. 3, 1963"ice knit it into the loop of the preceding double weft, in a mannerwell-understood in the art.

The filler thread F comes from a spool or other suitable source, passesthrough an eye 46 of a light coil spring 47 and through the eyes 48 and49 of the weft laying needle 14.

The warp threads W enter the loom from the left as seen in FIG. 1, andthe finished tape T is fed out from the right side of the machinepassing over a breast beam 1% and under a horizontal bar 57.

Warp Handling Considering first the harnesses which are operated by theslower running shaft 11, the desired number of jacks 59 (herein foursuch jacks) are in the form of vertical rods slidable through suitablebearings in the top wall of the frame located to one side of the path ofthe warp threads and carrying at their upper ends, U-shaped heddleframes 6% between which the desired number of heddles me supportedonesuch heddle being indicated at 61 in FIG. 3.

Each of the rods or jacks 59 is attached at its lower end to arectangularly shaped slide 62, one of the slides 62 appearing in fulland another, 62a in part. Each slide operates in a fixed groove 63 inthe left sidewall 2 and a fixed groove 64 formed on a block 65 castintegrally with the frame. Each of the slides is operated in the desiredtimed sequence by suitable cams, one of which 66, appears in full andanother 66a in part. Each cam operates between and bears at all timesagainst wear plates 67 so that the harnesses are driven both upwardlyand downwardly in a positive manner from the shaft 11. The cams aredesigned so as to provide a substantial dwell at each extreme positionof the shed. Each of the slides has its own operating cam so thatvarious types of weaves may be produced by arranging the cams to operatethe harnesses as desired.

On the other side of the path of the warp threads, there are the desirednumber of jacks 68 (the drawing shows two) operated in a similar mannerby slides 69 and cams 7 0 from the shaft 8 except, of course, that theup-anddown movement is twice as frequent as in the case of the firstfour jacks; thus the jacks 68 will move for each complete cycle of theweft laying needle and down for each next suceeding cycle. Twe of thesejacks 68 closest to the weft laying needle carry frames 71 similar tothe frames 69 and may support the desired number of heddles to providethe desired effect in the weave.

It should be noted that the heddle frames are rigidly held in cantileverfashion, each by a single jack, and the frames on one side extendbetween those on the other. Thus the frames may be spaced only half thedistance apart as in other looms, resulting in a more compactarrangement, and one which lends itself better to high speed operation.

All of the gears, cams and bearings are grouped together in a compactmanner within the frame-like housing. This housing, as seen in FIG. 3,can be set into a hollow container 91 which may be filled with oil up toapproximately the level of the main shaft.

What i claim is:

1. In a loom of the shuttleless type having a frame with a top wall,shed-forming and changing means comprising two sets of vertical jacks,one on each side of the path of the warp threads and extending throughsaid top wall, a heddle frame rigidly held in cantilever fashion by eachof said jacks, the jacks of one set being staggered with relation tothose of the other set so that the frames from one side project betweenthose of the other side whereby the frames may be more closely spacedthan the jacks, and means for operating said jacks located below the topwall of the frame.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said means for operatingthe jacks includes a vertically reciprocating slide attached to thelower end of each jack, upper and lower wear plates on each slide and acam operating between said wear plates for positively actuating each jack in both directions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSDuckworthfi Nov. 9, 1869 Firing et a1 May 8, 1951 Jones et al. June 23,1959

1. IN A LOOM OF THE SHUTTLELESS TYPE HAVING A FRAME WITH A TOP WALL,SHED-FORMING AND CHANGING MEANS COMPRISING TWO SETS OF VERTICAL JACKS,ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE PATH OF THE WARP THREADS AND EXTENDING THROUGHSAID TOP WALL, A HEDDLE FRAME RIGIDLY HELD IN CANTILEVER FASHION BY EACHOF SAID JACKS, THE JACKS OF ONE SET BEING STAGGERED WITH RELATION TOTHOSE OF THE OTHER SET SO THAT THE FRAMES FROM ONE SIDE PROJECT BETWEENTHOSE OF THE OTHER SIDE WHEREBY THE FRAMES MAY BE MORE CLOSELY SPACEDTHAN THE JACKS, AND MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID JACKS LOCATED BELOW THE TOPWALL OF THE FRAME.